DEAD SEA SCROLLS MYSTERY HDTV

Documentary
Dead Sea Scrolls still a puzzle after 50 years

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- It's been 50 years since a young Bedouin searching for a goat near the Dead Sea stumbled upon one of the century's most significant archaeological finds.

But all these years later, the Dead Sea Scrolls are still the subject of intense debate. Who really wrote them? What do they tell us about Judaism? Christianity? Who has rightful title to them?

"Their message is an extremely enigmatic one and takes a great deal of interpretation," says Neil Silberman, author of "The Hidden Scrolls." "That interpretation has to come out of modern ideologies and hopes and beliefs."

"What we really see underneath the Dead Sea Scrolls' debates are modern political and religious debates."

The scrolls, found wrapped in linen inside earthenware jars stored in caves, are believed to have been written or copied between the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D.

That was a period when Christianity was just beginning, and Judaism was in turmoil because of competing sects and the Roman occupation of Palestine. Among the documents found was a copy of the Book of Isaiah almost 1,000 years older than any previously known manuscript.

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